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classic

An MP3 player needs to be good at only one thing; storing and playing my music. I bought this MP3 player around 6 months ago and the reason I bought it is because I wanted a device that I could use in the gym. I did not want a very expensive one with a huge memory and when I saw this I thought that it would do nicely. I was getting tired of listening to the gym's music that had far too many advertisements thrown in and I needed a good playlist to motivate and inspire! I have always had a phone that can store music but I prefer to leave my phone in the locker and use a lighter device. Having a bulky phone strapped to my arm just does not work for me. I want a tiny machine that can clip onto my t shirt and not get in the way. I use Itunes for my iPhone so I could figure my way around the new device quite easily. What I liked about this ipod was the ability to play playlists, not just shuffled songs like the old iPod shuffle.

COST

You can buy the new styled ipod shuffle for £40 which I think is a good price for an Apple product but bear in mind that it has no screen and limited functions, you may decide that for an extra £25, an ipod with a screen may be a little more up your street. I am quite happy with my purchase though, most of the other MP3 players were a similar price and I knew that I could trust this brand.

DESCRIPTION

The best thing about the shuffle is the size. I love how small it is, so much so that i hardly even feel it when I wear it. The shuffle is very little at 1.1 high x 1.2 wide x 0.3 inches thick. As another much advantage, it only weighs 0.4 ounces. You can choose the ipod in silver, blue, green, orange, or pink. The exterior is made from aluminium and mine is silver with a lovely shine to it. The front of the iPod is equipped with the distinctive click wheel which includes a skip forward, skip backwards play pause and volume buttons. At the back there is a large sturdy clip that holds the device on to your clothes. This features the apple logo. There is room for your to have the machine engraved if you really wanted it to be. This might be nice as a present for Christmas. On the edge of the device there is a voiceover button, more on this later,a switch that toggles between Shuffle, Play in Order and Power On/Off. There is also a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a power indication light.The ipod cannot be docked as most ipods can be, you can only output music though the 3.5 mm lead. You can connect the device to a player but you need to use a wire to connect it. You do get an earphone to USB wire so that you can sync the device to itunes and upload music. It is through this lead that you can charge up your ipod too.

EARPHONES AND SOUND QUALITY

The earphones that come with the iPod are the old Apple ones that are quite cheap. There is no control on the wire to change the volume so you need to do this on the click wheel. The wire is over a meter long and you can put the headphones in so the wire will run down your back or your front. The earphones are white and grey with a very smaller speaker located in each ear bud. They are flat on one side with a small trim of rubber that is supposed to grip the ear and prevent them slipping out. The problems that I encounter come from their size, they are too big so they do not fit snuggly in the ear at all. They do out isolate outside noise so you can find them quite hard to hear through. If I was at the gym and wearing them, I can still hear the other music that the gym plays. I have a different pair of headphones that I wear with the iPod and these are much more successful. Luckily Apple have chosen to make all their products with a 3.5mm headphone jack so you can use whichever pair of headphones you so wish. The sound quality when I use my own pair of headphones is superb and even with the supplied headphones it is not that bad, the clarity is there with adequate bass. You do not need to have the volume really high but if you did the quality is still there, they do not alter the song quality or sound crackly. I fins though that with the Apple ear phones, they let the music out so much that people next to you can hear your music. I always get embarrassed about people being put off by my music as I hate to hear the awful thud, thud, thud from someone else's headphones. It may sound peculiar but I find sound quality is much better when you buy a song from iTunes rather than a track transferred from a CD. I have no idea if this is something scientific but on discussing it with my daughter, she has noticed the exact same thing. I wonder whether they are a better quality track or whether some of the clarity is altered as the song is transferred.

CHARGING

Amazingly, the iPod only takes 3 hours to reach optimum charge and this lasts around 10-12 hours. I have not run it down completely but it gives me about 5-7 gym sessions before I have to charge it. Apple state it should give you 15 hours. I find the battery really successful; although it is annoying that I always have to get the laptop out to charge it up. I find that if I just leave the iPod on for 30 minutes, I can get the device to last long enough for the gym. This is useful because I am much disorganised! The ipod has an indication light so you know when it is fully charged. If you click the VocieOver button with a double tap the ipod gives you the battery charge status; this can be really handy.

TRANSFERRING MUSIC

Transferring files on to the player is easy but time consuming. The first time you connect iPod shuffle to your computer, the iPod Setup Assistant helps you configure iPod shuffle and sync it with your iTunes library. Your iPod affiliates with your computer and it defaults to transferring your mixes from Apple Genius. If you do not want this then you can choose to copy over playlists or even just singular songs. Once your shiny new iPod shuffle is affiliated to the iTunes library on your computer, you will have to be careful if you want to upload music from another computer. A message will appear as soon as you connect the iPod to another computer which asks if you want to sync it with the iTunes library on the new computer. If you click yes, then it gets rid of all your music on the iPod and replaces it with the new files. This can be a problem but to solve it all you need to do is select Cancel to keep your music on the device. The iPod supports AAC, protected AAC from iTunes, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible, Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV audio files. I have the device in the 2GB size which will fit 467 songs on it currently.

VOICEOVER

I like the iPod shuffle for the simplicity and I do not need a screen as half the times as I do not get chance to even look at it! I can see why some users would be put off the old version of the shuffle iPod as you never know what track is playing unless you memorise your playlist! I did fins this slightly off putting so I was glad to hear about the VoiceOver technology as it solves the frustrating issue of not knowing the track name or artist and not being able to differentiate playlists or albums. So to use it, you will be pleased to know that you only need to hit the VoiceOver button once. It then robotically reads you the song title and band name or artist. There are around 23 different languages so whichever your chosen tongue you should be ok! I like this feature and I find it really useful, I find it to be the main selling point of the new shuffle. To find a playlist you need to press and hold the VocieOver button and it gives you every playlist, to select the playlist you want, wait for it to come up and then click play. You can then shuffle, play in order, hear the track names of each individual song in the list.

OVERALL

In my opening lines I stated that an MP3 player should be good at one thing, playing and storing music. This little device excels in this department and I really love it. It is so cute and easy to use. I love the click wheel design and the clip that makes it perfect for gym wear. You can hardly feel it when it is on your clothes which is great. Without a screen, it makes it really robust and with the voiceover controls you do not even miss the screen. I find this well worth the forty pounds, it is not much to look at but it contains hundreds of my songs and a couple of pod casts. I am pleased with it!

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A very good item

This is a nice ipod and the 4th generation is very stylish, slimmer with better features. The down side of the shuffles, or it was is that they don't have a screen so you never know what song you are getting.

This generation beats this as it has a voiceover function. It tells you the name of the track so you no longer have to play the guessing game. The ipod has a massive 4 gig capacity which means that you can store a massive amount of data on it. The amount of songs you can store depends clearly on the size but it is over a 1000. This is the equivalent to around 100 albums, bonus!

The ipod shuffle can be engraved and it comes in variety of metallic colours. The actual machine weighs the same as a pound coin and when it is worn, it can hardly be felt. That is another amazing feature of this, it has a clip so you can clip it to your pocket, shirt pocket or anything really.

The design is such that after a few goes with the shuffle, you should be able to operate it without looking at it. If you hold it the same way up, you should easily be able to feel for the skip forward and back and the volume buttons. The new apple headphones have a built in volume control so you can do that through here. The shuffle is compatible with Mac/Windows etc and as long as you have itunes, you can drag and drop, delete and move any songs you want.

The shape of the ipod makes it great for taking on holiday and as they are coloured, they are quite the fashion statement. The kid next door, lives with his attached round his neck like a necklace! The ipod comes with a lead to charge it up, but it does not come with a plug. You can only charge this through a PC/Laptop unless you buy the plug extra.

The shuffle has changed shape and size over the years and this is the best looking. It is not only smart looking, it is actually smart. It offers much faster transfer feeds and songs blast their way into your ears as soon as you can say, "Is it wrong for a guy to listen to Icona Pop?"

The shuffle marks easily, you need a cover or you will notice that the shiny exterior has the design features of new scuffs and scrapes. The ipod is sold with apple headphones, these are pretty average and you can get much better ones but in terms of sound quality with the two combined, yes I think for a machine as small as a my big toe the sound quality is pretty darn good.

I recommend this to any parents looking to buy their little ones a gift, these are robust, easy to use and fun little music players. For the adults, get one and fill it with your favourite jams for those awful bus rides, gym sessions and shopping trips. The battery life lasts for ages with this, at least 12-13 hours play time.

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The perfect MP3 for some!

When a new apple generation come along I seem to always jump on the bandwagon, and not just because I feel like i need to be apart of that crowd that to be honest: i hate!

I wanted something that I could clip onto my clothing easily or something i could fit in my pocket without having a strange lump down there that would raise some questions!!

If you think 4G is not enough space then walk away now because a shuffle is clearly not for you. I've very rarely run out of space when i add new playlists onto here and this is really what their used for. I end up updating this all the time when i buy new music and I include a collection of songs that are great for running or the gym. I do this because this is what I use it for, plus when im running I don't exactly want 'my heart will go on' to start playing!

You can also buy silicone watch straps that will fit these which are actually really usefull so I'd definitely recommend looking into these!

Overall another great product from Apple (even though I bouught the new one with the touch screen... haha! review to come next!!)

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A good overall iPod great for traveling and exercising/the gym

Alongside my phone which I listen to music on, I purchased one of these iPod Shuffles a while ago now as something cheaper, smaller, lighter and more practical to take to the gym to listen to music on. The 4th generation iPod shuffle certainly fulfills these things. It is very small and light and can clip onto clothing to be taken anywhere quite discretely.

*Design*

The iPod shuffle 4th generation is available in a range of colours - mine is blue. It is also available in grey, green, orange and pink colours. It comes with a pair of official Apple earphones, which are of average quality. They have a nice finish to them and are of good quality. It is a very small MP3 player at 3.1 by 2.9cm with a very small depth. It is light too, weight under 500g. The iPod has a central play/pause button on the front. Around this is a control wheel, which enables you to skip songs and change the volume. Other buttons include a locking button on top (which prevents buttons accidentally being pressed whilst in a pocket actually performing functions) and another button (VoiceOver button) which actually reads out the songs playing (as there is no screen unlike other iPods and MP3 players).

*Usability*

I find this iPod reasonably easy to use although some of the stuff was complicated at first, such as syncing playlists to the iPod and then reaching these playlists with the buttons without the use of a screen. I finally got to grips with this however, but even with instructions it was confusing. For example with podcasts (available on iTunes) too, I was always confused by which ones automatically played first when you reach the podcast playlist.

The buttons work well and are fairly simple in general. However when it comes to selecting playlists and finding a song you actually want to listen to, it's extremely difficult. Without a screen, you cannot play particular songs you want to hear on demand. If your playlist was listed alphabetically, you could potentially scroll through the list to find the song you want, but this is time-consuming and impractical considering the 2 GB version can hold roughly 500 songs.

However it is a very small and portable MP3 player, which can be attached to clothes thanks to the clip on the back. This clip works well and reliably so you don't have to worry about the iPod falling off.

*Price & Availability*

The iPod shuffle 4th generation has a retail price of £39.99, which is not bad at all. It is ideal even today for taking it away or to the gym, when you don't want to risk losing something else of greater value such as your phone. You can purchase it online new for less than this price (£30-35 range).

*Summary*

The 4th generation iPod shuffle is a great little iPod for taking out whilst traveling or to the gym. It is very light, small and portable. It reliably clips onto clothes too. The 2 GB version has a good capacity for music holding around 500 songs. It is fairly easy to work, although the lack of a screen makes some tasks such as selecting songs and playlists a nightmare. If you are not too bothered about what plays (i.e. all the songs you sync onto the iPod from your computer are ones you love) then it is perfect for you.

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A quality product for all uses

The iPod Shuffle will bring great joy for on the go music lovers. As long as your not someone who decides to download a full album every time you hear one new song you like. You'll love everything the iPod shuffle has to offer.

With a clear sound, it brings clarity to all genres of music. Wether your a heavy bass lover, classical music fanatic or hardcore trance raver, the iPod Shuffle has the ability to shut you off from the world, on the go, and take you to your happy musical place.I particularly like loading up a varied array of music genres and letting the iPod go to work. Shuffling through everything throughout my day, week or month.

This may be the only Apple product where the battery can really shout. You can enjoy hours and hours of music without having to charge it up again. This was particularly useful when travelling abroad on 13hours train journeys through India with no option but to charge up the iPod before you set off and hope it makes it all the way. And it did!

I also enjoy the voice over - allowing you to get a read out in your ear of what song and artist is playing in your ear at any given time.

Overall - a quality little product for daily use wether it be travelling, commuting or using it to help stay focused running!

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An Apple a day keeps the DJ awake... or something like that anyway.

Anyone that knows me, or anyone that has been kind enough to read some of my review, knows that I like to listen to music without inflicting my style of music on them, (although some people would not say what I call music stylish).Anyway, over the years I have used several MP players, be it owned, borrowed or some how come across. Some of these players have been nice little units, giving me lots of pleasure in my ears. Whilst some other players have fallen flat more or less at the first hurdle, as if trying to split me from my love of my music.

One particular MP3 player that I got my hands on was a well known player, possibly one of the best known names on the market these days, which, at the end of the day, could be seen as to why this particular device became so popular so quickly.

So what is this device called then?It is called the ipod from the very well known, (and very expensive) company called Aubergine, I mean Apple. The full name for this MP3 player is in fact called the ipod shuffle, which, even though it has the ipod name on it, it should not be confused with the other ipod types on the market, such as the touch and the nano.

So, how good is this well known branded MP3 player then?Well, let me start by telling you what it looks like...The player itself is what they call a polished anodized aluminium design, apparently, although without testing it in the lab, (or more my garden shed), I can not guarantee that it is anodized? But it does feel like aluminium so that's one thing anyway.It's small, in fact it's the smallest of the ipod range, being 30mm by 32mm by 9mm thick, with the clip included, weighing in at a mere 12 ½grams.There's no LCD screen to see the names of the tracks playing but it is compensated by a lovely little things called 'voiceover', which I will tell you a bit about later, (if you've not fallen asleep with boredom).On the top, if you look at it as if the + button is at the top, there is a earphone socket which takes a standard 3.5mm jack. Then, more to the right, there is a little button which, when pressed, kicks in with the name of the track and singer, actually telling you instead of showing you on a screen, (this is the 'voiceover' feature). If you actually hold the button down for a second or two it then lets you choose a play list.Now for the front, where the main controls are places in a sort of circular fashion, or more a ring. In the centre of this ring there is the play/pause button, then around the ring itself there are the rewind/back button, forward/next button with the volume up/down button on the top and bottom of the ring. All the controls on the front have useful little symbols on them so you know exactly what that button does.

To let you know this player is switched on, playing tracks, charging up and more, there is a little light that flashes in different styles so you know what's what.Briefly, this little light flashes orange which means that you shouldn't disconnect the unit from the PC or you may damage some, or all music files on the system.Other uses for the little light are to let you know if there is enough power going to the ipod from the USB port. What I mean by that is that if there is no light then the USB port you are using is not giving out enough power, thus leading to no charge and no transfers.Green light means fully charged, amber light means low battery and a red light means, yes you've guessed it, a red light means that you need to charge the battery as soon as possible. Then, if the red lights start blinking your battery is almost as flat as a witches budgerigar, (or a bird of that nature anyway).

In simple terms, green is good, amber is not bad but start thinking about doing something. Then there's red, which means it's time to panic as you music system is going to stop one way or another....

So that's it's basic features, well, what it looks like anyone. What about it's internal gizmos...?It's a complicated mesh of tiny bits of copper wire, teeny circuit boards, miniature bits of plastic piece and lots of microscopic dots of professionally place solder.But all that's irrelevant really as we should not be stripping this down to its bear bones as it could invalidate its warranty. What we do have to know is how much can this hold, GB internal memory wise, not opposable thumbs on a monkey wise.It in fact has an internal storage space of 2GB which can hold a good amount of music. Something like 300 good quality tracks, or 200 great quality tracks, or maybe 500 not that bad quality tracks... well, you get the idea don't you? The better the quality of music then the less you can fit onto the 2GB storage space.

As for speeds of transferring, this depends on how much your sending over and which USB you're using, but in theory, and my few tests, I can get about thirty 5MP tracks over in under a minute, which gives you a rough idea of how fast you can fill this up.

And I bet you're wondering about the formats that it can play?Well, it can handle several formats of music, such as MP3, WAV, AAC and Apple lossless?

Well, that's its inner storage. Is there anything else about this well known, simple to look at device?

You will want to get your own music onto this, which can be done quite easily. In fact, for those that have ever owned any form of MP3 player the process is the same.But you will need certain minor requirements, such as your PC need to be running windows 2000 and above, plus it runs perfectly well on Mac too, which is a bonus for you posh people out there.Then, to get a full battery so that you can enjoy hours of music in your ears, (blocking out the voices in your head), you will have to charge the battery up for between 2 to 3 hours. The reason there being that with 2 hours of charign you will get about an 80% charge, which gives enough power for many hours of muscial enjoyment. But a fill charge, taking 3 hours, will give you up to 15 hours of head banging, ear splitting, teeth chattering music, (and that's just your Chikaskia collection).As for charging it, this can be done using the old traditional plug in the walls method or connecting it up to your PC's USB port, although you will have to buy a separate cable to do this.

Any more extra information then..?This comes in many colours, such as blue, pink, a dodgy orange colour, green and, the one I had, the boring old silver one. But each one, regardless of the colour, has a casing made of aluminium, which adds strength to this player without a doubt.

My Opinion...

At the end of the day, (strange saying that really isn't it?), but, the Ipod range is the trend setter for several MP3 players, such as the cheaper look-a-likes from Sweex and others.You could opt for the very pricy ipod touch, which gives you more than a music player. Or maybe the ipod nano, which gives you what is really a compact ipod touch, sort of. Or, if you just want a music player without the frills of a video player then there's this, the ipod shuffle. Which does exactly what it says on the tin, so to speak.

The controls on the front are easy to use and so obvious to feel, which makes flicking through the tracks a breeze even if this is in my pocket. I don't even have to look at the controls to use them. The little ring that the main buttons are housed on are a good size, feeling slightly different from the main body so that you can feel them without looking in there direction. And once my fingers are on the ring I know that the play button is going to be in the middle of it, which makes pressing the play button a breeze.The entire unit is only just slightly bigger than the earphones that come in the box, or more the packaging, which just goes to show how small this really is. And as it comes in a good choice of colours, such as orange, blue, green, red and even pink, plus other colours, there's a colour for everyone at the end of the day.

What makes this different than any of the other MP3 players that I have used is a couple of additions that do come in handy, in a way.Firstly, there's what is called the voiceover, which is quite good, and a little unique. But what does it do..?Well, if a song comes on the player and you don't know the name of the artist and song then this will tell you, although as it was more than likely you that put the song on the player so you'll probably already know the name of the artist and song.It will also give you the play list options so that you can switch between them. Plus, it lets you know when the battery is low and needs charging.Then there's also what they call Genius play list. With this you select certain tracks using iTunes on your computer, then it will find the songs that it thinks go together. After it has given you a list of tracks you then simply put it on the player and away you go.

And it is these, together with the ipod and Apple name, that make this player in a league of its own, for the Apple fans anyway.

The useful thing about this player is the cracking little clip that is housed on the back. This is easy to open, with a couple of fingers pressing on the one side. But once it has closed onto something, such as a belt or even a waist band, it is not losing its grip at all, not even when I'm running around like a thief with a DVD player under my arm being chased by the local gendarme.

As for the way you charge this. Well, I have a lovely little cradle for this so that it can connect to my PC through the USB port, but to be honest I can't actually remember if the cradle came with the player itself as standard, or whether I bought it as an add on. One thing I'm sure of is that I paid for it somewhere along the line.The cradle is perfect for what it is designed for and the iPod sits so snug inside the oval shaped flat unit. The ipod fits in only one way as there is a little prong that will slot into the charging hole of the ipod. The ipod then should sit upright as it does it's stuff, be it charge up or transfer data across.

NOTE:You do not have to have the cradle, if you don't get it in the package, as the wire alone does the same job, only the ipod will have to lie flat on the table instead of looking posh in the upright position.

One thing that annoyed me a little...The first time I connected this up I did get a little frustrated with the things that came up on my laptop. This, apparently, is normal as it is the ipod's set up assistant which helps you set up the ipod to your PC. I do recommend showing caution as my PC has a fair few 'security' software programs running on it and to install any software takes a lot of patience and a fair amount of pressing buttons to 'agree' to the next stage of set up.Only this one was more of a pain in the watsits than normal, for some reason, although I did get thing connected after a few tantrums.I've had no problems with the drivers surrounding this ipod equipment and feel quite confident that it's not going to mess my system up at all. (he says as his computer goes into meltdown, sending his back details to the King of Alpasadenty).

Adding tracks to this is straight forwards, or taking them off it as well.Most of the tracks on my ipod are from my CD collection, ripping them off the disc onto a PC, then adding them to this player. This is easily done once connected to my laptop and takes no effort at all.There are other ways to get tracks onto this system, such as buying direct form the infamous 'itunes' store, which can get a bit costly at the end of the day, this is why I avoid this way as I do have quite a large collection of CD's so I can 't see the point of buying tracks twice, if you know what I mean. to do it this way you do have to open an account with Apple in the iTunes.

But which ever way you choose you'll find that the more you do it the better you become at it.

I have the 2GB version, which is ample for my needs as I am feel that if I want other tracks on I simply swap some over instead of having to go through thousands of tracks to find the one I want.But there are several different GB sizes giving plenty of choice depending on how much music you want to have in one place.

The voice over button is quite useful if you want to know the name of the track and who is singing it, which, due to the fact that there is no screen to read the information, it is nice to have it read to you.

Note:This voiceover system supports 29 languages, (apparently) but as I still struggle with English I don't really bother giving this a test run.

So, how much does one of these tiny 'jump on the ipod band wagon' music players cost then?When they first hit the street they cost more than a politicians expense claim, but as time has passed, with other devices coming onto the market, the prices have fallen, so these days you can pick up this ipod shuffle for less than £40.

£40..? That sounds a lot for what is basically a music player that doesn't even have a screen to tell you what track is being played. Nor does it have the capabilities of showing you a video, (well, without a screen that would be very difficult wouldn't it?).So £40 is a lot of cash, considering the fact that there are many many players of its kind out there that sell for a fraction of this ones price tag. I don't even really think that the voiceover and genius functions are important enough to warrant the £40 as, for me, I don't really find them that useful. I mean, all I want to do is listen to my music and as I was the one that put them on the player I know what's on there. I may not know exactly where one is but I know it'll come up at some point during the day, or night.

Would I recommend this ipod shuffle..?Hmmm. For £40 I'd say no as, like I said, there are several players that are cheaper and do exactly the same job. I've owned a lot of them and been quite happy with the majority.Don't get me wrong, if you get this in a sale for about £15 then yes, go for it, join the iPod world. You can't go wrong for £15. But I personally don't think that it warrants selling for the standard iPod high price that we have all gotton accustomed to these days, with some people queuing outside a shop for weeks at a time just to be able to say to their mate, (if they have any), "I was the fist to buy an iPod willie warmer." (no, they haven't brought one of those out yet? But when they do please remember that you heard it from me first).

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It does what it says on the box, it's a basic mp3 player for those who want a cheap alternative.

When I was looking for a new MP3 player, I knew I wanted something that wasn't going to set me back a weeks wages, but would still do the job. And that's how I found the iPod shuffle.

~Why the iPod shuffle~ I didn't want to spend hundreds of pounds on a full ipod, it simply didn't appeal to me to spend that kind of money on something I would mainly be using while working out. The ipod shuffle was a music player, not an investment.

~Cost~I bought mine for just under £40, which was much more reasonable than a full ipod.

~Appearance~It's small, compact, probably just over an inch big. In fact when I opened it, I wasn't sure what I was looking at. I had to check that it was indeed that big, and I hadn't accidentally bough some sort of battery pack!

It has a little play/pause button on the front and you can skip to the next or previous tracks and it comes in different colours. Mine is green, like an apple.

~Features~Mine has 2gb of space, which is fine, and I've never managed to use it all up, the battery life lasts around 10 hours, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less, but if I'm using it for my daily running, it will last me all week which is all I really need.

Most of all I love the voiceover feature. When I finally worked out how to make playlists, I found I was able to use the voiceover feature to skip between various playlists to choose the one I want. And what's more I can also listen to it on random if I feel like just seeing what comes up. One minute you can be listening to Pavarotti and the next you could be laughing as you realise someone put Abba on your ipod.

You can use itunes to sync your music to your ipod. But this isn't always as straightforward as it seems and it does take a while to set up.

~Downsides~Why doesn't this come with full complete instructions? I like to be able to refer to a little instruction book when something isn't making sense, but what came in the box told me very little information at all.

I dislike using itunes software, but you don't seem to have a choice, and I would have preferred not to need to download and install itunes just to use for this little mp3 player.

I'm never convinced that random is actually random. If it is random, why then with hundreds of songs on my ipod do I end up listening to the same one more than once in a short space of time? Whatever algorithm they use to calculate their random feature, it isn't random enough and this can prove to be rather annoying.

The headphones are very uncomfortable so I had to fork out for better ones that didn't hurt my ears.

I do miss having a screen to see what I'm listening too, I keep glancing at it to see what song I'm on and of course it doesn't tell me.

~Overall~It works, it isn't perfect, but it's cheap and plays music. (But woe betide you if you dare to criticise your ipod in the presence of other ipod users, you can get a huge backlash or comments. I've began to feel like I'm in some sort of strange cult of ipod users).

Next time I buy an MP3 Player, I'll probably buy one with a display, just to make it easier to work.

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If you intend to do exercise, this is the ideal ipod for you.

I had purchased this ipod a few years back when I read a few reviews about it being good for sport related activities and that proved to be true. It has a very streamline design, small and thin and the best part about it is that it doesn't break very easily. Having dropped mine a few times on accident, it hasn't broken or had anything wrong it (this still blows my mind to this day, it's so tiny and it's a tough little bugger).

On top of the ipod being small and stylish, it comes in all your favourite colours! This isn't very important to some, but to others it becomes the deciding factor for purchase. I have only owned the silver one (which I do prefer), but I have seen lots of other people with different colours and they all look great.

Probably the main reason people consider buying this type of ipod is because of how useful it is for physical activities (such as running) and in conjunction with the small size and nifty clip it has, it makes it as easy as ever to listen to music while you exercise.

It plays your music like any other ipod, which is exactly what it is designed to do. The sound comes out clearly and 2gb of storage space seems like enough, especially if you only use it for sport.

It's really neat, has good design, durability and does its job perfectly, which is what makes it so awesome. For anyone who wants to listen to music while exercising , I would recommend this ipod.

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Good product for price

The audio of this product is really great as to be expected from a apple product. However i feel the audio is so amazing for the price of this product. The product feels nice in the hand and the buttons have a nice feel too them. The product used the standard audio jack so all standard headphone will work. i did not like the fact that the product does not have a screen and it is a completly random song that comes on, i prefer to pick what i want to listen too, however for the price you cant complane to much. The product uses itunes just like any other apple device such as the iphone or ipod touch. The variaton of colours to pick from is also another nice feature. overall this is a very good product for the price and if you dont care what you listen too its a must buy.

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Perfect for those who are on the move.

This is perfect for those who love and treasure the music ear! why? its small, easy to put in you'r pocket and most of all holds ALOT of music which we all know there is thousands of tunes out there that our minds love to bob too :P

Can be attached to anything, well not anything but mostly anything like your clothes, jean pocket, back pack.. i doubt a suit case will work :P though it would be cool to see a businessmen rocking it our before going into a bank :P

On a more serious note, its not expensive and if broken it is not like breaking a iphone. Very cheap but on the same level it passes the music to those magical ears of yours. Awesome if you go college, all those boring moments for waiting for the bus or sitting in the canteen waiting for your friends to meet you or maybe you want to zone out and relax away from the world.

Only bad thing about this is that it does not show you what music is playing, which if you have a lot of music on this its pretty much zoom through what song you want

Better to buy this than buy something that gives you the same thing but is just 100 pounds more for a different pair of ear phones :p

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really useful for jogging, you will love it!

I got this ipod as a present in the christmas of 2010 but I already had some other ipods, and I never thought the shuffle was going to be for me, since I have loads of music that I just could not fit in this tiny ipod. However I started using it for jogging or when I want to save my mobile's battery and ever since then, I have not been able to stop using it.

The design I would say is the best!, I love how small it is. It is literally as thick as the earphone's jack. It is made out of a single piece of aluminium which makes it very sturdy, resistant and just very good looking. They come in different colours but for me the best is the one on the picture, the silver, and that one was precisely what I got. I have seen the other colours and I also like the yellow, which looks a bit golden too. I prefer the silver one since it looks more elegant, whereas the colour ones look a bit flashy in my opinion. Also something that makes the silver stand out is the fact that the wheel with the buttons to control the music is black, whereas the other have it white, something troublesome as this makes the dirt visible because it accumulates there when you handle it with dirty fingers. Furthermore, it features a very useful clip so that you can attach it to your clothes comfortably. This is great when you jog, as it is very safe and you can still handle the buttons quite easily.

The way the music is played is superb, it implements a really innovative mechanism to handle the playlists through a voice that tells you the name of them. It works the same way to tell you the battery level, and the name of each song. I think this was designed in order to get rid of the screen and make it even smaller. You turn it on sliding a three stages switch, that in the middle will play the music in the normal order, and if you slide it to the end, will play them randomly.

It is a great device and you will love it, even just holding it, you won't be able to stop playing with it and feeling its perfect design. A downside I would say is the capacity because with only two GB it is really difficult to decide what playlists to put in it.

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Light and battery a plentiful

The stylish shuffle is an essential piece for me at the gym. With its 4GB space for music I enough space for various tempos of music for different programs depending on my moods or targets as well as a cool down. The versatility of the shuffle means I can clip it to me whilst running or zip it up into the gym wear if preferred.

Bonuses whilst using include the ease of changing tracks meaning you can continue with your workout without losing pace or being distracted. The battery life depends on how much it is used but for several workouts a week and the odd commuter journey its perfect.

With several bargains around at the moment and the ability to use vouchers/points to pay for the shuffle with some retailers it is fantastic value for money.

Because of its size and ease of using I am now considering buying one for my child for her birthday, opening the ipod shuffle to a whole new satisfactory target group.

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Tiny, light, and easy to use, this iPod plays your music list in a random order. I bought mine because it is the cheapest iPod available, and you can find it in a selection of colours and at a variety of outlets - online and in store. I paid £37 (plus £3 delivery) from John Lewis; Amazon have it for £36.59. Other stores include Tesco, Argos, hmv, Sainsbury's and Comet.You will need to sign up to iTunes (very easily done), and either buy tracks from their store, or import your own CDs via your computer.It is so easy to click forward or back to another track, turn the volume up or down, or pause the music. The earphones are comfortable and provide excellent sound quality.My lovely new 'toy' has already brought me hours of listening pleasure, and I'm so glad I made the investment! Highly recommended.

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A great iPod for simple use or exercising.

Ok so, once again I am writing a technology review which, because I'm a massive techophobe, will be the average persons guide to an electrical product.

I recently decided that I really need to start taking exercise a littler bit more seriously. I was a member of a gym last year and went fairly regularly until I started two new jobs and had absolutely zero time to go. The picture isn't all that different this year, except that I quit the gym because I was paying and not using it and now I have 4 jobs rather than 2. But I know I'm not nearly as fit as I could be and I make endless excuses about why I just can't go running today. One of these reasons, sad though it is to admit it, is that I don't have an iPod to run with. If you have the same physical stamina that I do, literally none, you need something to distract yourself from the intense pain and music does this for me. I decided to bite the bullet and buy an iPod so I'd have no more excuses.

I had a look at what was on the market and decide the iPod shuffle suited my needs best. I already have an iPhone (see my review) which has an iPod on it, but I hate to run with it because it's an expensive item and if it breaks I'll have no phone. So I decided the shuffle would suits my needs, as I'd only be using it for roughly 20-30 minutes a day, just while I exercise. It is also the iPod on the market, at only £38, and I thought it would do the job perfectly. So, here are my thoughts on the various features.

- Music -It is really easy to load music onto the iPod shuffle by using your computer and itunes. I'm sure you don't need a lesson in this but basically for my needs I created a playlist of songs I wanted to listen to while exercising and then just loaded this playlist manually onto the iPod. It means I can change songs as and when I like, add things easily and avoid slow songs which aren't great to exercise to. You basically have three features for playing music on this iPod and this is all done by two handy buttons as you don't have a screen like the others. You slide the off button across one notch to get the songs to play in order and then across one more notch for shuffle (which is what I use). There is also a button you can hold down to hear the playlists and select them accordingly via this. Although I won't be using this feature at the moment as there is only one playlist it might be helpful for holiday as I can take my shuffle instead of my iPhone and just load an alternative playlist.

- Sound -The sound quality is really good, as with all apple products I've ever used. It is clear and doesn't sound at all tinny. There is a good range of volume too so you can crank it up once you really start to feel the burn.

- Headphones -You get standard apple headphones with this which personally I wouldn't use to exercise with. I tend to find they fall out of my ears at the best of time, let alone when I am trying to exercise. I have invested in some philips over the ear headphones which work perfectly. That said, you can't exactly expect apple to supply anything other than their standard headphones, and it is always useful to have a spare pair.

- Charging -You get a diddy little wire to plug into your shuffle and then your computer, it is literally no longer than about 7cm and super cute. One end goes into the headphone port on the shuffle and the other end is a USB which goes into your computer, or plug adaptor if you own one. The shuffle doesn't have the usual slot for a standard apple charger so be aware of this if you forget the wire specifically designed for the shuffle!

- Design -I think the design of this is literally so adorable. It is basically a square iPod no bigger than an international postage stamp. I love the look of it, a coloured body with white buttons and accessories. it has a very clean and simple look I automatically associate with apple. It also have a really sturdy and useful clip on the back of it which means you can attach it to your clothes. This is perfect for running and makes my life a million times easier.

- Colours -You can get this iPod shuffle in a variety of colours: silver, blue, pink, green and orange. I like that there are a decent variety of colours to choose from and that they are all quite bright, fun shades. I chose the blue iPod because I thought it was the nicest colour, though the orange was pretty tempting too.

- Cost -I bought mine from John Lewis and it cost me £38 which seems like a really reasonable price for a fully functional iPod. The next step up is +£100 and I just couldn't justify that kind of cost. For me the shuffle is great. Although the things you can do on it are slightly limited, as is the storage at 2GB, I think for simple use and for exercise you really can't go wrong. I love the idea that it makes it accessible to younger people as well. When I was 17 I bought my first iPod and it cost me £90, I had to save up 3 or 4 months of my allowance for this. The iPod shuffle would have been perfect for me back then and at half the price you can't go wrong.

Overall, a great little iPod at a fraction of the cost.

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An excellent little back-up device.

Lets face it, Apple are everywhere from iPhones, to iPads and of course the original and possibly the product that started off the revolution - the iPod. Now the iPod has had dozens of incarnations (Touch, Nano, Classic) but what could be more simple than a little device (miniscule infact) without a screen that plays your songs at random and can keep you entertained for hours?

That's exactly what the Shuffle is, there have of course been lots of different Shuffles on the market over the years but it would seem that the Shuffle, more than other iPods is the model that has changed the least. It would seem that simplicity really is key here and even with top of the range models like the iPod Touch and the Nano, Apple continue to market the Shuffle as your basic run of the mill iPod... but is that necessarily a bad thing?

*** Availability ***

Well, no as it would turn out as there are always people out there who have wanted simplicity over something that enables you to fling birds at green pigs and gives you recipe ideas. The Shuffle retails at a very modest and obtainable £40 compared with the Apple juggernaut the Touch which can set you back around £300.

*** In The Box/ Set Up ***

The shuffle comes in a tiny box, only slightly bigger than the device itself but it comes with everything you could need. A pair of white signature Apple earphones (throw these away and go for anything by Dr Dre!), a UBS adapter and a little set up booklet, but to be honest unless you've never used an Apple product before (where have you been the last 10 years?) then you should be fine.

Setting up requires you to plug the USB into your computer/laptop, sync with iTunes and you're pretty much ready to go. All that's needed is the sync some songs and you're well on your way. Speaking of syncing, it's incredibly easy and is basically a drag/drop process. You can create as many play lists as you like, but beware that unlike the shuffles siblings, this isn't able to handle thousands and thousands of songs, as with a modest capacity of just 2GB this iPod will be able to give you a respectable 500.

*** Design ***

The design itself is Apple all over - stylish yet functioning. The iPod shuffle comes in several different colours and is made from a single piece of aluminium polished to a sleek finish and it really does look good compared to the previous rather ugly looking Shuffle models. What looks like a click wheel on the front is actually just buttons and as always, simplicity is the key here. There are volume up and down buttons, next song and previous song buttons (which also work as fast forward/rewind) and the play/pause button situated in the middle. All the buttons are easily pressed and I've never had any problems with them sticking.

On the top you have you usual headphone jack, on/off switch (which also works as a shuffle/continuous play feature) and the new feature which Apple enthusiasts have been foaming at the mouth about is the voice over feature.

There's a clip on the back, which can also be found in the latest iPod Nano which enables you to clip the Shuffle onto your clothing which is especially useful if you're using this at the gym or during any other form of exercise.

Overall the design, as always with Apple is flawless and the only problem which is prevalent in Apple products is its vulnerability. This scratches incredibly easy and it's a good idea to invest in a case to prevent it from those disheartening scratches.

*** Sound Quality ***

The sound quality is fantastic, surprisingly fantastic infact for such a small and relatively cheap device. Of course, changing the earphones from Apples shoddy ones are a good idea and as aforementioned, any Dre Beats products are an excellent investment if you're a big music fan. You get crisp and clear sound quality with a rich bass and, not only does this exceed if you're a mainstream music fan, the sound quality also excels with other genres seemingly with ease.

*** Voice Over ***

This is a brilliant feature, if a little overdue on the Shuffle range, however it seems that Apple prefer to concentrate on their more worthy products (Touch, iPhone, iPad) before eventually getting down the list to their less worthy products.

The voice over feature works with a single button at the top next to the on/off switch. Pressing once will give you the artist and song name, held down will read you your play list menu and pressing twice will inform you of how much battery you have remaining.

As long as you have the song name and artist connected with the song you're listening to (on iTunes it will tell you exactly what's playing) then your little helper with have no trouble informing you of this. It's always clear and concise and works every time and is a great time saver.

*** Battery ***

Apple will tell you that this can cope with around 15 hours battery life and I would be inclined to agree with them. I'm actually quite impressed with the battery life of this little device, I mean sure it doesn't have a screen which sucks up battery life like a Dyson on speed, but at the same time this is only a very little device and it's always been something of a black sheep in Apples arsenal.

*** Overview ***

Overall this is a genuinely impressive device. Ok, so it's not as groundbreaking or as functional as the Touch, but as a secondary iPod for the gym this is a fantastic little device. With a sleek and shiny finish, brilliant sound quality coupled with a something that a monkey could figure out this is definitely worth an investment.